The Luckiest Men
by my own patronus
Summary: A Security side-story. Blaine's second summer visit with Cooper in LA. One-shot.


**a/n:** this takes place right after the end of Chapter 13 of _Security _(it's the summer between S2 and S3 of Glee, if that helps anyone). It's not going to make much sense unless you've already read _Security_. It's all a lot of fluff (plus a tiny bit of angst) that I wanted to happen in the story, but couldn't fit. Enjoy!

Because a few people have asked and I kinda want to continue with this happy relationship between Blaine and Cooper, there will be at least one more one-shot related to _Security_.

* * *

Blaine dreaded getting on the plane more than usual. Obviously going to the airport would always be a struggle for him, but right now his biggest concern was the fact that his cell phone would be turned off for entirely too long.

Kurt and the rest of the greatly humbled New Directions had come back to Ohio only two days ago, and now Blaine and Kurt were being separated – again. And for a longer time. Of course, Blaine wanted to see Cooper, but he couldn't help but feel like the timing was less than ideal.

He called Kurt as soon as he got to to the gate. Kurt answered right away.

"You got through security all right?"

"Of course I did. I'm used to it by now."

"I know you are, but I'm not yet. I wish you had told me earlier. I wish you knew you could trust me earlier," Kurt said, feeling a little guilty about what he was saying to his boyfriend, but not regretting speaking the truth.

"I always knew I could trust you. It was more about me – I had to learn a whole new Blaine, and it took a while. You helped more than you can even imagine, Kurt."

"I'm glad – I'm really going to miss you, Blaine. Why do you have to go away again?"

"The more you talk, the harder it is for me to remember," Blaine joked.

Kurt laughed. "Let's talk about something less heavy. I really don't want to turn into a blubbering mess. How long until you board the plane?"

"About 20 minutes."

"Perfect. Tell me what you're planning to do in LA."

* * *

Cooper anxiously checked the time on his phone for a fifth time in as many minutes. From the passenger seat of his car, Hannah placed a warm hand over his.

"Calm down, Coop. Blaine's flight should have only just landed. He still needs to get his bags."

"I know, I know, I just get nervous about him being alone."

"Cooper, I know your brother's had it rough, but he's better now. He has a boyfriend, a bunch of really good friends, and he has you." Hannah thought back to the night after Cooper had dropped Blaine at the airport after his last visit. Cooper had come to her apartment and looked so broken. She made him a strong cup of tea, sat him on her couch, and asked him what was wrong. His answer had chilled her to the core. Cooper had only told her the basics before: Blaine was gay, he got beaten up for it, he switched schools. Some time later, one of his friends had died. She never knew that the events were connected, but connected they were, and in a frighteningly violent way. Suddenly the younger boy's shifty eyes, protective posture, and insistence that he go to the airport early all made sense. It had been almost a year since then, and although she'd seen the boy at Christmas, she knew it was entirely different for him to be out of his comfort zone.

Cooper's cell phone began beeping, shaking both the occupants of the car out of their respective reveries. Cooper answered it immediately.

"Hello?"

"Coop? It's me," Blaine's voice said.

"D'you have your stuff yet?"

"Yeah, I just got it and now I'm waiting outside. Section B."

"We'll be right there!"

* * *

The three went out to lunch before finally returning to Cooper's apartment. Blaine noticed a few differences from the last time he was in LA. For one thing, there was an extra hair brush and toothbrush in the bathroom. And a pink towel. And flowery shampoo that Coop definitely didn't use. The apartment was generally cleaner, too. And Hannah had used a key from her keychain to let them into the apartment. Blaine grinned a little at this. Cooper hadn't mentioned anything about Hannah moving in with him, and Hannah still had her own apartment where she would be staying for the next week, but Blaine knew what the signs meant.

Sure enough, that evening, Cooper asks Blaine about his relationship with Kurt.

"It's great. _He's _great. I finally told him everything, and he doesn't even care. I really love him, Coop."

"That's great, Squirt. Really."

Blaine took Cooper's silence as the perfect time to question his brother about Hannah.

"So what about you and Hannah?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she's living here, isn't she?"

Cooper flushed. "Wh-what do you mean?" he stuttered.

Blaine laughed at his brother. "Come on, Coop, I'm not blind. It's pretty obvious that there's a second person living here, and since she has a key, I assumed it was her."

Cooper laughed weakly. "Right, I didn't even think of that. Of course you'd notice."

"So?" Blaine prompted.

"Things are good. Great. Amazing, actually."

Blaine grinned. "And...?"

"And _IthinkImightaskhertomarryme_," Cooper rushed out.

"Sorry, but I didn't quite catch that."

"I think," Cooper paused, "I think that I might ask her to marry me."

"What?! Coop, that's fantastic! Do you have a ring? Have you figured out where and when and how you're going to propose?"

"Wow, you really are gay – sorry, that was insensitive."

"No offense taken, Coop. I'm too excited for you! Do mom and dad know? What about her parents?"

"I've talked to her parents about it very abstractly, and they don't seem opposed to the idea. I was thinking about taking her out to dinner next week, someplace nice. I was kinda just hoping it would just happen. I don't want it to seem forced."

"Next week, Coop?"

"Yeah..."

"How long have you been planning this and not telling me?"

"I don't know, a while?"

"Can I see the ring?"

"What?"

"Well, as you so astutely pointed out earlier, I _am _gay, and therefore, I have a better eye for this sort of thing than you do."

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" Cooper asked.

"Nope. Now show."

Cooper went to his bedroom and emerged a few minutes later with a small velvet box. Inside was a small gold ring with a diamond in the center. "I know it's not that big or fancy, but I don't have a big disposable income or anything."

"It's great, Coop. She'll love it."

* * *

The next day, Cooper took Blaine to meet up with Charlie and Matt. Blaine was a little nervous to meet the men. Of course, he had met Charlie before, but he had freaked out and didn't think he made a good impression. He didn't know why, but he really wanted Cooper's friends to like him.

Charlie and Matt were holding hands and sitting on a bench in the park. There was a dog's leash next to Charlie and a tennis ball near his feet. The dog, however, was nowhere to be seen. As soon as Cooper and Blaine came in sight, the two men stood up and walked over.

Charlie and Matt each took turns embracing Cooper, and Charlie even greeted Blaine warmly. Blaine still stood next to his brother nervously.

Matt took the initiative and held out his hand to the young boy. "Hey, I'm Matt."

"Blaine," Blaine responded as he grasped the man's hand.

The four walked back over to the bench and began talking about a variety of things – Cooper and Charlie's upcoming auditions, Matt's job as souz chef at a local restaurant, and Blaine's school. After a few minutes, Cooper asked, "Where's Agnes?"

"Agnes?" Blaine asked.

"Our dog," Matt answered. "Charlie wanted to name her after his grandmother which is why it sounds like we're talking about an 80 year old woman instead of a two-year-old puppy."

"She's probably off playing near the fountain," Charlie said.

"You two are the most irresponsible dog owners I have ever met," Cooper said in exasperation. "Come on, Charlie, we're going to make sure your dog hasn't run away or been stolen by a better and more responsible owner."

That left Blaine and Matt sitting on the bench. Blaine felt a bit tense around the older man. He didn't understand why, but Matt seemed to be studying him as if he was an interesting book.

"So, Blaine," Matt finally said, "tell me about yourself."

"Um, well, what do you want to know?"

"Anything. Likes, dislikes, interests, boyfriends, whatever."

Blaine flushed at the mention of boyfriends. "I sing. I'm the lead soloist for my school's show choir."

"That's awesome! What else? I want to get to know the enigma that is Cooper's baby brother. I've heard a lot about you, but I want to hear what you have to say."

"What has Cooper told you?" Blaine asked. He wasn't sure how he felt about Cooper telling his friends about him.

"Just the basic stuff. He also said you had trouble at your old school."

"Oh." Blaine looked down.

"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of. We all have it tough. Some are luckier than others."

"What do you mean?"

"I know exactly where you're coming from, Blaine. I realized I was gay when I was in the seventh grade. But I was too scared to come out, so I just hid myself from everyone. Once I moved out here for college, I realized how stupid I'd been acting, so I came out. I told my parents, though, and they didn't react well. They told me that if I was going to continue with my "bad lifestyle choices" then I shouldn't consider myself their son. Thankfully my sisters – I have three, two older and one younger – accepted me, but I haven't seen or talked to my parents since my freshman year of college."

"Wow. How did you deal with that?"

"At first, I didn't. I thought that everything would be okay if I just pretended to be straight. But I hated that. I started to hate myself. Finally, I decided that I didn't need my parents if they were just going to make me feel like that. I have a new family now. When I first met Charlie three years ago, I knew that he was all I'd need. He was worth losing my parents."

Blaine smiled faintly and looked down at his cell phone screen.

"Do you think you've found that man?" Matt asked.

"I don't know if he's my soul mate or the man I want to marry or anything," Blaine began, "but yeah. I've found a guy who makes me feel special and loved. He helped me get over all the crap from my old school."

"What's his name?"

"Kurt. Kurt Hummel."

"Well, Blaine, Kurt Hummel is a lucky man if he has you."

* * *

Charlie and Cooper stood off to the side while a tired Agnes rested by their feet. The two watched the two most important men in their lives talking.

"Do you think this'll work?" Cooper asked. "I mean, Blaine is really reserved about all this. Do you really think he'll talk to Matt about this? They've never even met before!"

"Matt is the only person here who can even _pretend_ to try to relate to what Blaine's gone through, Coop. This will work. Anyway, you said that he's gotten a lot better this year."

"Yeah, but only in the last few months. Only since he and Kurt got together."

"Progress is progress, Cooper, no matter how you try to spin it. I mean, he's a completely different kid than he was last year. Last summer, he was – I don't know – jumpy, maybe? He's calmer now, and happier, and I got that from only a few minutes' conversation with him. You need to let him heal in his own way."

* * *

That night, Blaine went out to Cooper's tiny balcony and talked to Kurt for two hours. At first it was about nothing at all – stories about Kurt's crazy friends, celebrities Blaine had spotted in LA – but soon, Kurt realized that there was more Blaine wanted to talk about.

"What's up, Blaine? I mean, why are you _really _calling?" Kurt asked.

Blaine sighed, and told him everything that Matt had told him.

"That's great, Blaine – I know that it sounds awful, that Matt was disowned by his parents, but he managed to find so much love. You already have that."

"I know," Blaine began, "but Matt was able to get over it so easily. I don't think I want to get over the attack."

Blaine heard Kurt's sharp intake of breath. "Why?" the older boy asked.

"It's just – I know this will sound stupid – but, I'm afraid that if I move on and get over what happened to me, then I'll forget Jay, too."

"That's not stupid at all, Blaine. But you need to know that there is nothing you will do that will erase Jay's presence from your life. Even if you move beyond your fear of those boys – like you did when you came to prom with me – Jay will always be the first boy you loved. He will always be a part of you."

"Thank you, Kurt," Blaine whispered, dangerously close to tears. "I love you."

* * *

All too soon, Cooper was bringing Blaine back to the airport to go back to Ohio. Blaine was excited to see Kurt and his friends from school again, but he was sad to leave LA. He really could see himself living in LA.

Once Blaine called Cooper to let him know that he had made it through security and was now waiting at his gate, Cooper turned around and battled the LA traffic all the way to his apartment.

He had chosen an expensive restaurant for his date with Hannah that evening. He had told her that it was a thank you for being so amazing while Blaine was in town. But as Cooper tucked the small velvet box into his dress pants and adjusted his tie, he knew that it was so much more. Blaine was a large part of it – if Hannah and Blaine didn't get along so well, Cooper might not want to marry the girl. But there was so much more to Hannah. She was gorgeous, talented, incredibly smart, witty, and the most sensitive person he knew. He wanted to spend every moment of the rest of his life with her. He wanted to stand behind the cameras, insanely jealous, as she filmed scenes with other men. He wanted her to be the person he came home to after a long day on set shooting whatever commercial, TV show, or movie he was working on. He wanted her.

Cooper picked Hannah up and they made it to the restaurant in time for their reservation at 6:30. Cooper was too nervous to pay attention to what he was doing at dinner. He was jumpy; hoping that the "right" moment wouldn't pass him by. Dinner ended, though, and it still hadn't come.

They went for a walk, since it was warm and bright enough with all the city lights around them. Cooper relished the warmth of Hannah's smaller, softer hand in his. And suddenly, he knew. They came to the end of a block, near an old, gorgeous theatre where they had once gone to see a film, and Cooper knew that this was the moment.

"Hold on a second," he told Hannah. He walked over to a man selling flowers on the sidewalk, and asked for a bouquet of red and white roses. He returned to Hannah and held them out.

"Beautiful flowers for the most beautiful woman in the world," he said shyly.

Hannah blushed. "Oh, Cooper," she said as she took the flowers. They leaned in to each other and connected in a soft kiss. When they broke apart, Cooper looked around at the mostly deserted street, and got down on one knee.

"Coop?" Hannah asked when he remained silent for another moment.

Cooper looked up, and then Hannah saw it: the small box in his hands.

"Hannah Aarons. You are the love of my life. Everyday, I wake up and wonder why you have chosen me to be the lucky man who gets to be with you. I love everything about you. I love how kind you are to everyone you meet. I love the way your nose scrunches up and your eyes crinkle when you laugh. I love every part of you. I want to be with you forever. Will you marry me?"

By the end of his speech, tears were welling at the corners of Hannah's eyes. She smiled widely as she tried to wipe them away, and took a deep, wavering breath. "Yes. Yes, Cooper, yes, yes, yes!"

With a shaking hand, Cooper placed the ring on her left hand, then took it tightly in his before kissing her deeply. They pulled apart some time later as Hannah gasped, "I love you."


End file.
